NFL Week 12 Picks: Predicting the Week's Biggest Losers

Although losing a game is never easy to take in, losing a big game that could have saved a team's season hurts the most.

Knowing that in spite of all the previous inconsistency and lack of production that one was still alive for the postseason, and yet the disappointments continue and the season falls short.

That will be the final outcome for the following three teams that will lose a big game in Week 12.

Detroit Lions (vs. Green Bay)

Detroit began 5-0 and were winning games every which way. However, the Lions are just 2-3 since then and have only beaten the Broncos and Panthers during that stretch.

On Thanksgiving, Detroit welcomes the undefeated and NFC North rival Packers. It's a must-win game for the Lions as they still have to play at Green Bay later on, as well as New Orleans and Oakland in the coming weeks.

Unfortunately, however, the Lions will fall as the Packers not only have the more explosive offense, but the offense that starts off faster without turning the ball over.

In losing home games to San Francisco and Atlanta, the Lions couldn't stop the running game nor could they protect QB Matthew Stafford.

Green Bay may not have a run-oriented offense but whenever they need to run the ball, they do it well. As for the Lions' solid pass defense, they haven't faced an offense like the Packers yet this season.

Dallas was arguably the closest, but even then the Cowboys weren't rolling and still put up 30 points.

In addition, the Packers have a good pass rush that will cause the Lions' offensive line problems. And if Stafford throws even one pick, that could be the game as Green Bay not only is good at scoring defensively, but the offense capitalizes almost immediately.

Packers over Lions

San Diego Chargers (vs. Denver)

The Chargers are on a five-game losing streak and during that stretch, QB Philip Rivers has thrown 10 picks in addition to his six fumbles this season.

For the year, Rivers has thrown 17 INTs to just 15 TDs, so even though he has solid targets in WR Vincent Jackson and TE Antonio Gates, he's simply underachieving. That said, it's not like he's being protected well either.

Rivers been sacked 25 times and that won't change this week as the Broncos have a solid pass rush with rookie Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil.

Not to mention the Bolts have no ground game nor can they stop the run to expect another down-tempo game from Denver, which controls the clock while not turning the rock over.

The Chargers are straight up flustered and being that they lack in the trenches as well as special teams, another loss is inevitable. On the contrary, Denver is riding a three-game winning streak and until a defense can completely blank its offense, the Orange Crush keeps rolling.

Broncos over Chargers

New York Giants (at New Orleans)

The New York Giants may be the most inconsistent team in football. They manage to play just as good if not better on the road and yet, they fall at home against beatable opponents.

And if they couldn't stop the Eagles' offense, just imagine how many times the Saints will go up and down the field. New Orleans has arguably the best offense in football and although they throw quite often, much like Green Bay they can run the ball rather effectively when needed.

As for New York, the Giants may rank No. 5 in pass offense, but that's mainly because they don't have a consistently reliable ground game to fall back on. Also, the defense has been having trouble in the trenches and if DL Jason Pierre-Paul gets double-teamed, then there is no pass rush.

The Giants are also at a disadvantage against New Orleans because the Saints have a return specialist in Darren Sproles, who's arguably the best returner in the game.

Just in terms of field position will the Giants lose this game, which only make life that much easier for the Saints.

All New Orleans will do is play coverage against New York since they can't run the ball effectively. So the question then becomes: Can the Giants win a shootout with the Saints in The Big Easy?

No.

Saints over Giants

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